


Chameleon Boy

by Jedflah



Category: Back to the Future (Movies), Back to the Future: The Game
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, F/M, Gaslighting, Gen, Give Marty a Break, Long One Sot, Non-Graphic Violence, somewhat happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:00:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25251274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jedflah/pseuds/Jedflah
Summary: When Marty wracks up enough demerits to bring him to Citizen Brown's office, the interview goes differently than expected...
Relationships: Marty McFly/Jennifer Parker
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	Chameleon Boy

**Author's Note:**

> "Stand by for another break down.  
> Sound off the alarm.  
> Is this the chameleon boy I swore I wouldn't become?"  
> -Chameleon Boy, Blue October
> 
> (Note: This makes more sense if you've played or seen a playthrough of the game. I don't remember if the interview sequence was in the Citizen Brown comic miniseries, but I based this mostly on the scene from the game. This does contain spoilers for episode 3 and some minor spoilers for episode 4 of the game, so I highly suggest you watch or play those yourself if you haven't already.)

**Thursday, May 15, 1986, 4:55 PM**

The guards had escorted Marty up to the office in the clock tower where Citizen Brown was waiting. The doors echoed as the guards shut them behind Marty, leaving him alone with Citizen Brown.

The office was large and empty; certainly unlike any space Doc had worked in before. The only things on the walls were two large paintings on either side of Citizen Brown’s unnaturally (for Doc) tidy desk.

“Martin Seamus McFly, age 17, president of the Junior Brown Brigade, straight A honors student, and a demerit total of zero--until today.” The chair swiveled around to reveal the man addressing him. 

“Jesus Christ, Doc! What happened to you?” Marty cried.

“‘Doc?’ Interesting, you see me as some sort of doctor, implying you must be seeking some sort of professional help. While I am not any sort of doctor, I believe we have the resources to set your mind straight.”

Marty’s eyebrows knitted together. “What? No, Doc, you gotta listen to me! This isn’t the way Hill Valley is supposed to be, this isn’t how  _ you’re _ supposed to be!”

Citizen Brown jotted something in his notebook and looked back up at Marty. “So you’re of the belief that this interview is more about me than it is about you?”

“Sure.”

“Then tell me, Martin, what am I supposed to be like?”

“Well,” he took a deep breath, “you’re  _ supposed _ to be this amazingly brilliant scientist who makes a time machine… out of a DeLorean!”

Citizen Brown lifted an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Uh,” Marty rubbed the back of his neck. “Why not? You know, for the hell of it! Plus, something about the stainless steel frame and the flux dispersal--anyway it doesn’t matter why! What matters is that I need you to help me fix it so we can repair the timeline!”

“Hmm, it sounds like this time machine has caused you a lot of problems.”

“Yes! I mean no! Look, yeah time travel has done a lot of bad for us, but it’s also done a lot of good! In the  _ right  _ timeline, you have a dynamite wife and two kids, and a bitchin’ time train!”

“Fascinating. It seems you’ve completely fabricated an alternate reality as a coping mechanism.”

“What? No, Doc, I’m not making this up! Please, I know I sound crazy, but you gotta believe me!”

Citizen Brown set down his pen and leaned forward on his desk. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

Marty huffed and sat in the chair opposite of Citizen Brown.

“How long has it been since David and Linda left home? Two, three weeks?”

Marty scrunched up his face. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“And if memory serves, you recently ended your courtship with Officer Parker’s daughter?”

“Hey how’d you--”

“Losing multiple long-term relationships all at once can put enough stress on anyone’s life, Martin. It seems you’ve constructed an escapist fantasy land to cope with this. Making up stories about a time traveling DeLorean, wearing non-uniform clothes, wracking up demerits just to see me to entertain your delusions.” Citizen Brown’s expression softened. “All a cry for help no doubt.”

Marty stared at the floor between his feet. Since he arrived back in 1985, he had been slowly gaining memories from the Marty of this timeline. Formative memories integral to this other version of himself mixed in with his own (with a dash of memories from the aptly named “Hell Valley” timeline). There was one constant he could count on though: Doc was almost always right.

And here Doc was, sitting right in front of him telling him that everything he had been through was all in his head.

“Rest assured, Martin, that we can provide you with the help you need. Relax. We’ve got everything under control.”

“Well, what’d he say, Marty?” Jennifer had evaded arrest and had caught Marty as he left the courthouse. “Or hell, what’d  _ you _ say?”

Marty was somewhat startled by Jennifer’s appearance, but found her presence comforting nonetheless. “I, uh, well…” Marty looked back at the courthouse clock. “I guess I’m still processing what happened, Jen. I got a lot going through my head right now.”

Jennifer grabbed his arm. “What is with you today? You’ve been so uptight and moping around all week, then out of nowhere you start acting out and apparently have learned to actually play guitar overnight! I just don’t understand what this is all for!”

“I thought I knew, Jen, but clearly I don’t even know the answer to  _ that  _ anymore!”

Jennifer huffed and let go of Marty’s arm. “Alright, fine. You’re going through a lot with your family and whatever. I won’t bother you about it anymore, jeez. Next time you act out though, leave me out of it. I can make my own anti-establishment statements, thanks.” 

“Wait, Jen! Can you tell me just this one thing at least?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Did I or did I not crash a DeLorean into the billboard outside the south gate?”

Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Oh please, what kind of idiot do you take me for? You were there, you answer that yourself!”

And just like that she stormed off, leaving Marty alone once again. His mother was no longer polishing the statue in the square. No wheels to get him home. Just himself. Martin McFly.

Might as well start walking.

At least his house was still in the same place with the same parents he’s always had. George was still sitting at his monitors spying on the residents of Hill Valley. Well at least he had been. Now, he was just sitting with his head in his hands.

“Hey, Dad. Uh, our house still being decontaminated?”

Without looking up at his son, George whimpered an affirmative.

“Everything alright? Well, all things considering--”

“It’s over, Martin. Your mother left.”

A brick dropped in Marty’s stomach. “Doesn’t she do that sometimes though?” 

“I mean she  _ left _ left. She grabbed her things and left without saying where she was going. She just said she wasn’t coming back.”

Marty saw pathetic before. He saw defeated before. But this was a new low for his dad. He reached over and gave an awkward pat on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Pop. I’m not going anywhere.”

\---

"To get a better understanding of your condition, I need to know more about this 'correct' Hill Valley you keep insisting exists," Citizen Brown said as he uncapped his pen and opened his notebook to a clean page.

"I keep telling you, Doc, I'm telling the truth!"

"Oh I'm sure you are, Martin. Please, proceed."

Marty huffed and crossed his arms. "Where do I even begin?"

"Usually one starts at the beginning."

"Right." Marty nodded. "I guess I'll start with the night in the parking lot of the Twin Pines Mall." As Marty recounted the events taking place last October (and by extent, his weeks in 1955 and 1885), Citizen Brown was writing a few lines at a time whenever something key to the story came up. Because Marty was so thorough and detailed with his retelling, there was a lot of time where Citizen Brown wasn't writing anything, but just simply staring at the young boy.

"...and then that's when you came back in the time train with your wife and kids. You didn’t stay for very long though. History to explore and all that."

Citizen Brown looked over his notes. "This is more serious than I thought."

"I haven't even gotten to the mess we made back in 1931, yet, Doc!"

"Let me say this first, and then you can tell me all about it. You're not okay, Martin. You need help. I know you're going through a lot of stress right now, really I do, but constructing this alternate reality and actually believing you're from this reality is not a healthy way of coping with your problems." He stood up. "They're mere fantasies, Martin. Pure fiction. You've always been Martin Seamus McFly, son to George and Lorriane McFly, and a citizen of Sector L. All this talk of time travel is complete nonsense. Perhaps you could write a science fiction novel or screenplay about these delusions if such works weren't banned, but I need you to understand that they're just stories in your head."

Marty looked down at Citizen Brown's notebook. While to him it was still illegible, he could still see that it was much more neat and tidy than Doc's handwriting ever was. "I'm sorry, but, I just don't believe you. I can't believe you, Doc!"

"Kindly refer to me as 'Your Honor,'" Citizen Brown said with a harsh chill to his voice.

Marty glared up at the man he formerly knew as Doc. “Sorry, Your Honor.”

“Now, Mr. McFly, what else did you have to say?”

Marty sighed. “Nothing, it’s not important anymore. It’s all in my head anyway, isn’t it?”

May eventually bled into June as Marty started to take more mannerisms from Martin. For one thing, he actually combed through his hair instead of leaving it a tousled mess. He didn’t bother washing his street clothes anymore seeing as they were not compliant with the town’s uniform code. He had also neglected to practice with guitar that he argued so much to be allowed to play again. 

School was coming to an end soon. It wouldn’t be long before he would never set foot in these cold halls or classrooms again. Much to Marty’s dismay, jackets violated school dress code. By lunch, his forearms were practically red from rubbing them all morning in attempts to simulate some kind of weighted pressure on them. It wasn’t as good as long sleeves, but it wasn’t like Marty could complain. 

“Hey, Martin! You listening to me?”

Marty snapped back to reality as Jennifer hit his arm. Where was he? Oh, right. The cafeteria. Did it always smell like this?

“Sorry, I’m still not in a great headspace right now,” sighed Marty.

“Hmmf. You’ve been saying that since the middle of May, McFly,” Leech sneered.

“Shut up! He’s going through a lot,” Jennifer snapped as she rolled her eyes. “Anyway, like I was saying, we should just ditch graduation and go do something else. You in, Martin?”

“I dunno why you keep inviting him to our little outings, Jen. Face it, his little stunt last month was just an act to get your attention. I don’t know why you still bother with him.”

“Hey, I’m right here; I can still hear you, idiot!” Marty said. “Yeah, I could do with something other than going to that stupid ceremony. What did you guys have in mind?”

Leech shot Jennifer a sour look, but that didn’t stop her from answering Marty’s question. “I got a call from Needles the other night. He’s gonna be at the south gate. Says he’s got something  _ very  _ interesting all the way from Grass Valley. You in?”

“What does he have?”

“Well, obviously he couldn’t say over the phone, ding dong. All the wires are being monitored. Us nonconformists have to use code.”

Marty nodded. “Right.”

“I still think he shouldn’t come. Remember last time he hung out with us with Needles there?” Leech groaned.

“Can it, Leech! Besides, that was years ago. You still in, Martin?”

Marty finished off his milk carton and slammed it on his lunch tray. “Yeah, sure. What the heck? It’s not like they’ll miss me anyway. Are we all gonna meet there separately or--”

“Of course we’re meeting separately. It’s too suspicious if we all go together!” Jennifer hissed.

“Okay, okay. What time are we going?”

“I’ll let you know when that day comes. Needles didn’t give me a time, so we’ll see what he says. Just don’t flake on us, alright?”

“Relax, Jen, I got everything under control.”

\---

Citizen Brown had been silently shuffling documents around for five minutes now. The echoing ticks from the clock gears practically suffocated Marty with no other noise to distract him.

“I must say, Martin, I’m quite disappointed in you.”

“Did I do something wrong, sir?”

Citizen Brown neatly placed his stack of papers off to the side and gave Marty a stern look. “No, I suppose you haven’t. You were such a bright pupil up until your recent meltdown. A perfect 4.0 GPA across all your years of high school; right on track for a full-ride scholarship to Strickland College.”

Strickland. Just hearing the name sent a shiver down Marty’s spine. “Let me guess, I don’t have a 4.0 anymore. What’s the big deal?”

“It isn’t a big deal. Just disappointing, that’s all.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Citizen Brown raised his voice. “I beg your pardon?”

Marty shrank back in his chair. “I mean uh, why bring it up at all if it isn’t a big deal?”

“Martin, good performance requires a strong sense of discipline and control, something you’ve clearly lost since your incident back in May. I’m disappointed that you’ve let it affect you this much.”

“Your Honor--”

“However, you still managed to come out on top of all your peers. I suppose I ought to congratulate you. You will be expected to give a valedictorian speech at graduation, no doubt. I’m sure it will be exceptional, coming from a bright mind like yours.”

Marty sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Can we just get to the therapy session now?”

By the time Marty made it out to the south gate, the sun was well behind the distant hills. Jennifer was waiting with her arms crossed and an irritated look on her face. Leech and Needles were behind her, leaning against the wall.

“Don’t tell me you actually walked all the way out here, Martin,” Jennifer said.

“Hey come on! When my mom left, she took the car with her, and we haven’t gotten around to getting another one, so I had to skateboard out here,” Marty replied once he caught his breath.

“Yeah I can see it sticking out of your backpack. Well at least you showed up at all. We were getting sick of waiting.”

Marty huffed and rolled his eyes. His gaze then fell on Needles. He looked… different. For starters, he wasn’t in the same orange shirt as Leech and Jennifer, but when was the last time Marty had even seen him? Even in his made-up version of Hill Valley, he couldn’t recall when he last saw Needles.

“So I take it we’re all here. Long time, no see, McFly. How long has it been? Seven years?”

That’s right, seven years. Now it was all coming back to him. Marty simply nodded and hoped there was no more talk about the past.

“You still a dirty little narc, McFly? That was real low of you to rat me out to that pig Officer Parker about my ‘illegal movie,’” Needles snarled.

Now this Marty didn’t remember. Illegal movie? “You didn’t have a snuff film or anything did you?” he asked with a wavering voice.

“What? No, stupid, it was  _ Rock ‘n’ Roll High School _ ! Jen, you sure McFly can hang with us?”

“Look, he showed up instead of being at graduation. I think that says more than enough about his ability to ‘hang with us.’ Let’s just get on the other side of this damned wall before it’s pitch black out,” Jennifer said. 

Leech punched in a code on the keypad on the squawk box next to the gate, causing it to open. The teens filed out, making sure to avoid being spotted by any cameras that were watching. 

“AAAGH!” A few yards away from the gate, Marty (who was in the back of the group) tripped and fell over some heavy metal object. 

“What’s the hold up, McFly?” Leech grunted.

“Jee I wonder! I tripped and fell (cheese and rice, that hurts). Just keep going, I’ll catch up.”

The other three simply shrugged and continued their trek out towards the now repaired billboard.

Marty sat up to look at what caused his fall. It was hard to make out, but what Marty saw was a stainless steel box with three dim LED readout panels.  _ ‘The time circuits?’ _

Without thinking for much longer, he stuffed the box in his backpack under his skateboard.  _ ‘I’ll deal with this later.’ _ He soon made his way back to the group as Needles was pulling out a brightly colored cardboard box from his own backpack.

“How’s this for a graduation party? My cousin got ‘em when he was in Mexico a few months ago. I figured we’d light em up as a big ol’ middle finger to our dear old First Citizen Brown and his nag of a wife.” Needles pulled out a firework rocket and held it in the air. “Here’s to ya, Citizen Brown! May his courthouse be struck by lightning and burn to the ground!”

Jennifer and Leech eagerly followed Needles’ lead and each took a rocket. Jennifer looked over her shoulder at Marty. “You gonna light one with us, or are you too chicken?”

Marty winced at the insult. He knew better than to lash out, but he had come all this way. Of course he was gonna light one. Without responding, he grabbed a rocket and glared at the group. Needles took out his lighter and held it up to their fuses. Everyone but Marty had aimed their rockets up at the billboard, right at the portrait of Citizen Brown with those T.J. Eckleberg eyes.

The fuse was getting shorter, and Marty had to make a decision. No one would care where his firework went, right? No one would care if he didn’t want to deface the image of his friend. But was he even his friend anymore? Was he ever his friend at all?

The fireworks whizzing out of their holsters broke Marty out of his stupor. While the other three fireworks landed on the billboard and scorched Citizen Brown’s face, Marty’s shot off in the air and exploded like fireworks usually do.

“Way to go, McFly. I don’t know if you noticed, but the billboard is over here,” Needles said.

“I know, I just--”

Jennifer sighed and took Marty by the arm. “Alright, let’s get you home. In fact,” she turned to the other boys, “we should all get out of here. Cops’ll probably show up to investigate soon. I’m already in hot enough water with my dad as it is, I don’t need this as more of a reason to put me in that citizen plus program.”

“I told you he shouldn’t have come,” Leech muttered.

“Eh, it’s whatever. I didn’t expect to be here for long anyway. Smell ya later, McFly,” Needles said as he stuffed the box of fireworks back in his backpack. Soon enough, he was gone.

The drive home was long and awkward. Could these golf carts go any slower? Marty cleared his throat and clutched the top strap on his backpack. “Why are you being nice to me? I thought you hated my guts.”

“What gave you an idea like that? Martin, just because we broke up, that doesn’t mean I hate you. You’re just the biggest square I’ve ever known, that’s all. Or does ‘we can still be friends’ not mean anything anymore?”

“I’m gonna be real honest,” Marty gulped, “I don’t remember our breakup. Like at all. Anything before the day I wracked up all those demerits, I have such a hard time remembering. I’m sorry, that probably doesn’t make any sense.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t make sense. Look, just because I can’t stand having you as a boyfriend, that doesn’t mean I don’t love you, Martin. You’re this smart, artistic, and sensitive guy, but I guess we just aren’t compatible. I’m organizing protests and demonstrations, and you’re a sycophant obsessed with Citizen Brown’s legacy like he’s gonna make you heir to the throne or whatever. Y’know, you really take brown-nosing to a whole ‘nother level.”

Marty looked up at Jennifer. “What did you say?”

She slammed on the brakes a few blocks away from his house. “I said I still love you, alright? Dammit, Martin. Every day I wake up and hope you come to your senses and realize just how crazy this fascist police state is! I mean, come  _ on _ , Martin, you’re smarter than that! How can you be so clever, yet so stupid?” Black tears had started falling down Jennifer’s face, leaving behind dark trails on her cheeks.

Marty paused and twisted the strap between his hands.

“I forgive you.”

Jennifer turned away. “Just get out of the car.”

Marty’s exit was less dramatic than one would think, seeing as he had only stepped out of the golf cart as Jennifer slowly drove away, but that didn’t stop his throat from sinking into his gut. 

He made his way back home and to his room where he pulled out the box that attacked his foot. After some finagling and tinkering, he got the display to finally light up.

**MAY 15 1986 3:30 PM**

**DESTINATION TIME**

**\--- -- ---- -:-- --**

**PRESENT TIME**

**AUG 25 1931 11:45 PM**

**LAST TIME DEPARTED**

As soon as Marty finished reading over the time display, he dropped the box on his bed.  _ ‘No, that, that can’t be real. I’m… am I having tactile hallucinations now? Am I finally losing it? Time travel isn’t real; it’s not possible!’ _

\---

_ One Week Later... _

Staying up this late was a mistake, but it’s not like going to sleep would be much better. No telling what kind of dreams his subconscious would come up with with his deteriorating psyche. He couldn’t win by sitting in his room and doing nothing about the thoughts rampaging through his mind. No, no he had to take this all out on something, or someone.

Not caring whether his father was asleep, Marty went to the garage and pulled out a baseball. He took a few practice swings on a few old monitors that were just laying around serving no purpose. The glass shattered and fell all over the floor of the garage. The sound was oddly satisfying to Marty’s ears. He couldn’t just stop with the monitors. After all, the night was still young. He grabbed his backpack with some extra supplies and his skateboard and headed out for a night on the town.

“Hey! You there! Stop right there, citizen!” Marty was about to smash in the SoupMo window when he was spotted by Officer Parker. “What are you doing out passed curfew?”

Without turning around, Marty said, “I could ask you the same thing officer.”

“I have a duty to be out patrolling looking for hooligans like you.”

Officer Parker couldn’t see, but a wide smile creeped onto Marty’s face. “No, you’re here because I want you to be here.” Before Parker could get another word in, Marty had spun around and swung at his legs with a direct hit, knocking Parker down on his back. He stood over the downed officer and took another swing aimed at his knees. The impact sent Parker in a fit of howling pain.

“You’re not supposed to do that! You’re not--” crunch, there went Parker’s ribs, “--REAL!” And with another blow to the head, Parker was out with his body limp on the pavement. It was funny how quickly he went down. At least, it was funny to Marty. Hilarious even. But the echoes of his manic laughter only attracted more attention to himself.

“Martin?” Jennifer emerged from the back of the SoupMo with a spray paint can in hand. “What the hell are you do-- Holy shit!” She dropped the can when saw her father motionless on the ground. “Martin, what the hell did you do?”

“Don’t you see, Jennifer? I did this for you! You wanted this, right?”

She was looking frantically between Marty and her father’s body, unable to speak.

“Jennifer, none of this is real! It’s all in my head, see!” He kicked the officer in the side with another crunch of his ribs. “See, he’s still out! Because I  _ want _ him to be out! I’m done with him!”

Marty  _ wanted _ Jennifer to be happy that he had finally started taking a side, but her expression could not be further than that. “Martin, I--”

“Aren’t you happy? Why aren’t you happy, Jennifer? This is all in my head, so why aren’t you  _ happy _ ?”

Realizing negotiation was pointless, Jennifer turned and sprinted away. But Marty wouldn’t have this. “Wait! Come back! I wasn’t gonna hurt you! I can make you come back, just watch!”

She skidded to a halt and turned around to stare Marty down. “Then do it, pussy! Do it already if you’re so damn powerful!”

He yanked the skateboard out of his backpack and flung it in such a way where it hit Jennifer’s ankles as she was starting to run again, which caused her to fall over. As she got back up to her feet, Marty had caught up to her and held her arm in a tight grip.

“M-Martin stop! Please--agh! You’re--”

“I don’t like it when you run away, Jennifer.”

She pulled her wrist out of his grasp and held her fists up to her face. “Just try it again, see what happens.”

“You won’t do anything because I don’t want you to do anything. Watch.” He reached for her wrist again, but instead got a punch to the face. Hot blood rushed down over his lips as he recoiled and covered his nose.

“Oh I’m sorry, but you must have  _ wanted  _ that to happen,” Jennifer said sarcastically. “I won’t hesitate to do it again. Hope that’s okay.”

Marty lunged for both of Jennifer’s wrists this time and twisted her arms behind her back. “No it’s not okay. Why can’t you just do what I want?”

Jennifer stared at Marty’s bloody and bruised face wondering what he was going to do to her next. But then she remembered she wasn’t out here alone. 

“LEE--”

Her shriek was cut off by Marty pinning her to the ground and covering her mouth. Unfortunately for him; however, he would soon find himself unconscious thanks to a snot-nosed teenager who was quick on his feet and even quicker with a baseball bat.

Jennifer threw the dazed Marty off of her as she got back to her feet standing next to Leech. Finally she could breathe.

“What the hell happened to him?” Leech said with a shaky voice.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m totally fine. Thanks for asking,” Jennifer barked.

“I mean, he was just fine a week ago. It doesn’t make sense.”

“I don’t know how to tell you this, Leech, but I don’t think Martin has been fine for a long time.”

Leech handed the baseball bat to Jennifer as he went to go collect the rest of Marty’s belongings. “Should we just leave him out here?”

“He’ll just cause more damage when he eventually wakes up. No, better take him somewhere where he won’t hurt anyone… or himself.”

Leech nodded and started digging through Marty’s backpack. “Holy shit, this sick son of a bitch brought rope with him.”

While that revelation made Jennifer’s blood turn to ice, she didn’t have time to dwell on what Marty could have done to her had Leech not intervened. “Give it here. I’ll tie him up and we can take him back to the basement at your place.”

To most people, hiding a body in the back of a golf cart would certainly seem like one of the most difficult tasks anyone could do. For Jennifer and Leech, this was no different. It wasn’t long before they gave up completely and opted to have Marty’s body laid out across their laps in the front for the drive back to Leech’s house. 

Marty woke up to a blinding light only diffused by two silhouettes. As his vision came into focus, he made out who the two figures were. He tried to speak, but found that his lips were sealed by a strip of duct tape over his mouth. He looked down and saw the rope binding him to the chair, but that didn’t stop him from shaking and struggling to escape like a wild horse refusing to be tamed.

Jennifer and Leech glared at Marty as they raised their weapons. Jennifer had Marty’s bat now, and Leech had a pair of nunchucks. “It’s no use, Martin. You’re not getting out of that,” Jennifer said.

Marty shaking violently in his chair had only caused him to topple over. As he hit the floor, he let out even more muffled yells and screams. His face was red with vitriolic anger now as he glared back up at Jennifer and Leech.

Jennifer had a white knuckle grip on the bat and raised it higher. “Look, Martin, this is all happening, and there’s nothing you can do about it! The world just moves without you whether you like it or not! You can’t control what other people do, but you  _ can _ control what you do, alright?” She sighed. “I don’t know what broke in you, but I can tell you that going on a rampage like that isn’t gonna make anything better! Get it?”

Marty lay on the floor in silence for a while, letting Jennifer’s words reverberate in his head. She was right. Deep down, somewhere buried in his mess of memories, he knew she was always right. All out of options, the only thing he could do now was to just let go. And there he was, lying on the floor tied to a chair with tears streaming down his face.

Jennifer sighed. She lowered the bat and took a step towards Marty. Leech grabbed her shoulder and gave her a worried look. She shrugged off his hand and said, “We were friends once. I got this.” She carefully stood up the chair and watched as Marty flinched at her movements.

Jennifer examined Marty’s face. Dried blood covered his nose and mouth. There were bruises already starting to form under his puffy red eyes. It was too late to tell now, but Jennifer also figured Marty had a concussion. “You’re not okay,” she said, not referring to his physical state.

Marty shook his head and gave more muffled cries in attempts to get them to remove the duct tape. Somehow, Jennifer understood. Marty winced as Jennifer slowly removed the tape. Once he was free to speak, he was quiet for a second. His breathing had slowed to a normal rate now. And then, at last, he spoke.

“I don’t know what’s real anymore.”

“See! I told you he was crazy, Jen!” Leech yelled.

“Shut the hell up, Leech! I swear, if I weren’t tied up right now-”

“Just go wait upstairs. I can handle it,” Jennifer barked.

“But what if he hurts you?”

“Does he  _ look _ like he can hurt me right now?” she scoffed.

Leech glared at Marty. “Alright, but if I hear anything, I’m coming right back down here, get it, McFly?”

“Oh, bite me,” Marty spat.

Once Leech was sufficiently upstairs and out of earshot, Jennifer pulled up another chair and sat to speak with Marty. “So, you don’t know what’s real anymore.” She paused to try to find the right words. “What’s up with that?”

“Well ever since I started seeing Citizen Brown for therapy--”

“Hold on, hold on, you’re seeing  _ him _ for  _ therapy _ ?”

“Yeah he says I have some sort of hallucinogenic psychosis; that I’ve constructed a completely false reality in my head to cope with my personal problems.”

“Yeah, Marty, that’s not… look he’s using harmful stereotypes and stigmas about mental illness to gaslight you. I  _ did  _ see you in the DeLorean in the billboard that day. God, I feel like such a dick now for not answering you right, but I saw you up there. You threw down Kid Tannen’s flask, and I threw up that tire iron thing.”

“Hey, you called me Marty there,” he mumbled with a slight smile. 

Jennifer smiled back and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Well, that’s your name, isn’t it? Look, I’ve known you since fourth grade, Marty. I would have noticed if you were pointing out things that weren’t real, or if you went on a psychotic break. 

“When you were first telling me about how Hill Valley isn’t supposed to be this way, and you needed to fix it, I had this weird feeling that you weren’t  _ Martin _ . Like, you’re someone completely different; someone who doesn’t belong here. Now, I know you’re not the same guy I knew all my life. Somehow, that hack Citizen Brown must’ve convinced you that you were.”

Marty bit the inside of his cheek. “He was my friend once, you know. My best friend in the whole space-time continuum.”

“ _ Citizen Brown _ was your friend?”

“Well, when he was when he wasn’t-- alright I’m gonna sound crazy, but you’re right. I’m not the same Marty you knew all your life. I’m from a different timeline. I-I’m a time-traveler, Jen.”

Jennifer pursed her lips and nodded. “It does  _ sound _ crazy, but I sorta believe you.” She got up and walked behind Marty.

“What are you doing?”

She crouched down and started to untie him. “I think you’re good now. Let’s get you cleaned up, mmkay?”

Marty sniffed and nodded. “Hey, Jen?”

“Yeah, Marty?”

“I uh, I’m sorry about your dad.”

“Well, he was bound to get his ass beat one of these days. Just didn’t think it would be by you in the middle of the night. Don’t worry, I won’t rat you out if they come asking me about what happened.”

“Thanks.”

\---

The junkyard was one of the few things that remained the same in this timeline. After all, some things were far too large to fit in the decycling bin. Jennifer and Marty were scouring through the various scrapped and junked cars in hopes of finding the wrecked DeLorean.

“You sure you can fix it?” Jennifer asked.

“I have no choice, Jen. It’s up to me to fix the DeLorean and the timeline.”

“Yeah, but how’ll you do it? It’s not like you have Citizen Brown, er, Doc to help you.”

Marty pulled out Doc’s journal from his jacket’s inner pocket. “But I do! Not all of the pages have gone blank yet, including the ones I need most. I guess no matter what timeline, Doc’s supposed to invent some kind of time machine.”

“Maybe you can still convince him? It seems like there’s still time.”

Marty shook his head. “He won’t listen to me. He just brushes it all off as the ravings of a madman. Er, mad-kid?”

“Mad lad?”

“I guess? Whatever, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that we find the-- DeLorean!” Marty rushed to what was left of the car. It was still in good shape, all things considering. 

“Tell me you still have the keys to that.”

Marty tossed up and caught the key ring in midair. “Got ‘em right here!” 

“Great! Now how are we gonna get this hunk of junk out of here?” She circled the wrecked car. “Looks like it’s missing a wheel.”

“Oh yeah I used it to get over the wall.”

“How the hell did you manage that?”

“Well you see, Doc got a hovercraft conversion for the DeLorean in the early 21st century so--”

“Okay okay, I get it. So I guess we should get looking for a tire that fits.”

“Right. Oh, and we need a new battery too.” Marty scanned the surroundings for any suitable replacement parts. “Y’know I’ve never actually done this before.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything, sweetheart.”

The sunlight glared in Marty’s eyes through the orange glass of the clock tower. The ticking of the gears paired with Citizen Brown’s rambling had given Marty quite the headache sitting there in an increasingly uncomfortable chair. Of course, Marty wasn’t paying attention anymore. Everything Citizen Brown was saying went in one ear and out through the other. 

“Martin? Are you listening? This is vital information that--”

“Why are you like this?” Marty was slumped down in his chair, staring up at the man that he used to know so well.

“I’m confused by your question. Explain.”

He sighed. “C’mon Doc. I mean, what happened?” He bolted upright and was waving his hands around as he spoke. “One minute I know you as this bright kid with hope for the future, and now you’re… well look at you! How did it all go so wrong, Doc?”

“So now you believe you knew me in my youth? Martin, I believe your condition--”

“Will you STOP talking about my ‘condition’ already? For crying out loud, it’s me! Michael Corleone! Don’t you remember?”

Citizen Brown turned to his notebook. “Incredible; he has now started to believe he is an incarnation of a fictional character…”

“NO! God, just… JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME OKAY?” Marty slammed his hands down on the desk and made eye contact with Citizen Brown. Never before had he yelled at his friend, but then again, “We used to be friends, Doc! I helped you make the fuel for your rocket-powered drill! I went with you to subpoena Arthur McFly! I even helped you solve Ivanov’s Conundrum by telling you H was the Hamiltonian Operator!”

Citizen Brown squinted at the teenage boy and shook his head in astonishment. “No, it, it can’t be! That’s impossible! You’re just toying with me now!”

Marty looked down at the framed picture on the desk. It was taken in the town square roughly 55 years ago. Front and center was a young Emmett Brown shaking hands with Officer Danny Parker Sr. But behind them were two other figures. “Why don’t you see for yourself?”

Citizen Brown examined the photograph more closely with a magnifying glass. “I don’t believe it! That’s me! And you're right next to me! But, something must be wrong, the two of us back there are see-through.”

“Exa-- Wait, see-through?” Marty said with rising concern in his voice. There it was, just as he said. The only time Citizen Brown had told Marty an iota of truth, and it was the furthest thing from anything he wanted to hear. “Great Scott! I’m running out of time!”

“Wait, wait, what do you mean ‘running out of time?’”

“Well, if you never invent the time machine, that means all of the time traveling we’ve done will have never happened, and this reality is a result of those events, so if this timeline continues on its current path, uh, that could mean complete unraveling of the universe as we know it. Holy shit, is this what you always meant by fourth-dimensional thinking?”

Citizen Brown shrugged.

Marty started to pace and mutter under his breath. “Okay, well, something happened that night Kid Tannen was arrested that led to this reality. Let’s see… Artie and Trixie were necking and you went of with Edna Strick--”

“Yes?”

Marty froze and stared at Citizen Brown with a slight upturn to the corners of his mouth. “I know what I have to do now!” he cried as he ran out of the office and by extension, the courthouse.

“Don’t you think you should take a break, Marty? You’ve been working non-stop for hours now,” Jennifer said as she handed him some electrical tape. “Have you even stopped to eat?”

“I don’t have time to take a break, Jen. I don’t know how much longer I have, but assuming my theory is right (which it most likely isn’t) the more I work on getting the time machine fixed, the more of a buffer I can make for myself.”

Jennifer scratched her head. “Jeez, I never thought I’d say this, but when did you get so smart?”

“I guess it’s the Marty from this timeline’s memories merging with my own? I dunno. I guess the universe didn’t like us being so close together, so it just made me the alpha Marty or something.”

Jennifer nodded slowly. “Okay, I understood none of that, but keep going and just pretend I do.”

“Alright well like I was saying, it’s like all the time traveling I’ve done was like weaving fabric, but now that this timeline exists and Doc never invents time travel, that fabric has been slowly unraveling and catching up to me, and baby, I’m weaving as fast as I can.”

“So as soon as you get it all fixed, you’re leaving?”

Marty wiped off some grease from his cheek. “Yep. I won’t even have time to test it; I’ll just have to pray that it works.”

“Well, wherever you’re going, take me with you.” Jennifer’s voice was soft now. 

Marty looked over his shoulder at her. “I don’t think you can come with me.”

“Right, I get it. Probably be easier if you worked alone and didn’t have to explain to me what was happening every--”

“No, I mean, I don’t think you can come with me because your hair is like that.”

“Oh.” She laughed. “Right. I guess that wasn’t really the style of the 30s.”

Marty stood up to take a gander at his handiwork. “Well, it’s held together with the temporal equivalent of duct tape and bubblegum, but it should work to last at least one round trip.”

Jennifer held Marty’s hand and bit her lip. “Before you go, how ‘bout a kiss? For luck?”

Marty smirked and pulled her closer. “I dunno, Jen. Isn’t that… illegal?”

“Oh don’t be a narc, McFly. C’mere.”

**Wednesday, August 26, 1931, 9:47 AM?**

After a quick change of clothes and a two mile hike, Marty had arrived into town. The air was a bit brisk, but Marty just attributed that to climate change.  _ ‘They had that in the 30s right?’ _

He soon spotted Emmett on the sidewalk wearing a fresh white suit with his hair combed back more than usual. It wasn’t long after until the two boys made eye contact.

Emmett had rushed over to greet Marty. “Michael! Gosh it’s been a while, eh? Where’ve ya been? I never got a chance to thank you!” 

“I had somewhere else I needed to be. Hey, I’m sorry about Kid uh, holding you hostage on the roof--”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Water over the bridge. Of course I’m grateful for your rescue, but I never got a chance to thank you for setting me up with Edna!”

Marty grimaced at the mention of her name. “Yeah, listen Emmett, about her--”

“Honestly and truly, Michael, these past few months have been utter bliss and euphoria! And it’s all thanks to you!”

Marty’s hand had found its way back over his neck once again. “A few months-- Emmett it’s only been a day! I--” He looked around and shivered as the wind picked up. “What day  _ is _ it?”

“Why, it’s opening day, silly!”

“Opening day?”

Emmett gestured to the banner hanging behind them. “The Hill Valley Expo!”

And so it was as Emmett said. Monday, October 12, 1931.

Opening day.

**Author's Note:**

> Wowee this one was a doozy to write. Big thanks to @DilophoLehnsherr for the idea! This one is definitely going under the category of "Things I've Written That Are Longer Than My Senior Project." As of posting this, I don't think the violence was super graphic, but if I need to change the warning tag PLEASE let me know. Also I'm sorry if you clicked on this hoping there would be more young!Emmett than what was in there. Maybe I'll write a short missing scene one shot about what happened after the courthouse at the end of episode 4?   
> As always, any constructive feedback is welcome! Thanks again for reading!


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